Fantastic Beast
by lrhaboggle
Summary: Whispers of witchcraft and wizardry, a fantastic beast, and a strange man from London. These are the things that await June and Cora on that fateful day in NYC in 1926.


June and Cora jumped off the bus eagerly. They were in NYC again. This time, though, they weren't here on ordinary business. Instead, they were headed to the bank to apply for a loan to start their acting careers. It was a gamble, but they felt confident! The only damper that morning was running into some crazy lady who stood on the steps of the bank, ranting about witches and Satanism, or something like that.

"Crazy bat!" June scoffed as the lady shoved a handful of fliers at her. They were all for something called "the New Salem Philanthropic Society". June made sure to throw hers away as soon as she could and Cora couldn't help but agree, trashing hers as well.

"I can't believe she thinks magic is real!" Cora said. She shoved past the crazy lady and her fanatic followers.

"Even if it was, I don't think it would be evil," June said. "Actually, it would be a nice help to our careers!"

"Wouldn't it?" Cora laughed. At last, she and Cora were able to get inside the bank and shut the door on those anti-magic sermons.

Sadly, the girls did not come out with the same spirits they had while going in. Their application had been denied. Oh, they were able to get a bit of money, but it was nowhere near enough, let alone as much as they had hoped to secure.

"Oh well," June sighed, trying to keep a happy face. Cora did likewise.

"Let's go get something to eat," she suggested. "I heard there's a nice little pastry shop nearby."

"Alright, why not?" June agreed, then she and Cora raced to that bakery.

About an hour later, spirits and bellies full, the girls were headed back home. On the way there, however, they ended up running into the strangest creature either of them had ever seen.

"June! What is this?!" Cora asked. The creature was lounging in the middle of their path and it looked like a strange cat-dog hybrid with a ferret's body. What's more, Cora was certain she could see smoke coming from its nose.

"What is what?" June asked, running over to her friend. When she caught sight of the strange creature, she drew back. "What the heck?" she exclaimed. The strange little creature looked up at her with big heterochromia eyes. For just a moment, it was totally still, then it lunged right at June's face. The poor girl gave a scream of surprise and Cora echoed the sound, jumping forward to pry the thing off. But then she paused. The creature was resting itself across June's shoulders but was making no move to harm her. Strange…

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" June muttered as she felt a little sharp tongue flicking her face rapidly. Cora, all the while, gave a laugh.

"I think it likes you!" she cried, no longer afraid once she realized the thing wasn't trying to harm June.

"How can you tell?" June asked sarcastically, still trying to remove it from her shoulders, but it was a stubborn creature. The thing continued to try and lick her mouth and suddenly, Cora got an idea.

"I'm going back to the bakery!" she exclaimed. "I'll be right back!" then she ran back to the little pastry shop.

"Hey wait! You can't just leave me here!" June cried, but Cora was already gone.

A few mins later, Cora had returned with a warm cinnamon roll. She offered it to the creature and, in less than half a second, it had jumped off of June and onto Cora and was twisting its head around the pastry Cora was holding. It began nibbling frantically at the sugary, buttery treat and it occasionally puffed a small flame onto it. Cora laughed again, coddling the cute little creature while June looked thoroughly disturbed.

"So the thing has a sweet tooth?" the blond asked.

"I think," Cora replied. "I noticed it because it immediately jumped for you and you were the only one of us to get something sweet. Remember, all I had was a sandwich and some juice."

"Hey! The cupcake was on sale!" June complained.

"I'm not trying to say I disapproved of your choice," Cora calmed her friend. "I'm just saying that I think this thing, whatever it is, could smell the sugar on your breath and that was why it went after you and not me."

"Keerooo!" the creature said. It turned back to June and June paused, but only for a moment. Then, carefully, she reached out until she was touching the strange creature's head.

"Oh! It feels scaly!" she exclaimed. Cora looked surprised and carefully touched its head to. It did! The body felt like soft fur, but the head felt like smooth scales. Just like June had said.

"What a fantastic beast!" June remarked.

"Kerooo!" it replied, then it went back to its meal.

"But wait, what are we going to do with it?" Cora asked once the cinnamon role was gone.

"Release it to the wild?" June suggested.

"Is that a good idea?" asked Cora. "I mean, we don't even know what it is. How do we know it's native to NYC?"

"To be honest, I have no clue," June said. "But setting things back into the wild always seems to be what they do on those TV shows."

"But June, we're not in a movie," Cora reminded.

"I know. But do you have any other ideas?" the blond asked. She had a point. As reluctant as Cora was to set a sugar-eating, fire-breathing cat-dog-ferret loose, neither of them had any other clue what to do.

Finally, Cora agreed to it. Together, the pair swaddled the fantastic beast in their coats and took a bus to the NYC Central Park. It was a surprisingly sad moment when the girls finally lowered the tiny creature into a patch of hedges.

"You be a good little creature now, you hear?" June asked, patting its scaly head. It snuggled into her touch like a cat and June felt a deep sadness fill her heart. They hadn't even known the little fellow for that long and they were already starting to miss it. The look on Cora's face pretty much said the same. It seemed that the feeling was mutual because the creature began to whine up at them when they set it down.

"Keerooo! Keerooo!" it cried, but the blond and the brunette only gave it one more farewell pat before walking off. It was sad, but they knew they wouldn't be able to care for it. It would've been crueler to try and take it home with them.

"We did the right thing," Cora tried to say, but the sadness was evident in her voice. June didn't say anything at all.

The sadness didn't last forever, though, because the girls had just barely opened the door to their apartment when they both tripped over something lying in the doorway.

"What the heck!?" June snapped, rolling off of Cora. When they turned to see what had been lying in the doorway, both of their jaws dropped.

"Keerooo!" it was that fantastic beast.

"I think we've been adopted," Cora remarked and June agreed 100%.

"I've always wanted a pet!" she said and Cora only laughed at her. The fantastic beast did likewise, emitting a gentle huff of smoke as it circled its long body around the two girls. It was official. There was no getting rid of that thing now. All three of them were more than happy with the arrangement too.

That night, June and Cora ended up getting to see just how fantastic their new friend was. Along with displaying human intelligence, it also displayed a talent in the kitchen, being able to whip them up a killer dinner and cook it just right using its fire breath. Later, just to show off, the creature also showed them just how long it could get. At a resting position, it was about one foot. When it was at its full length, it was about a yard. Then, on the flip side, at its smallest, it could compact down to four inches. It was like playing with one of those slinky toy things.

"That is so weird!" Cora laughed as the thing stretched its body in and out, mimicking an accordion. June was busy trying to roast things over its nose which was still smoking.

The next day wasn't nearly as fun. It began well enough, starting with a fire-cooked breakfast of eggs and toast, but then a strange young man about a decade older than them showed up at their apartment.

"Excuse me, but you seem to have one of my creatures!" he said, a British accent ringing thick.

"Your creature?" June and Cora asked suspiciously.

"Yes. I am Newt Scamander," the Brit replied. "And from what I understand, you are harboring my Sugarfanger?"

"Sugarfanger?" June and Cora echoed again. Right as they said this, their fantastic beast appeared.

"Ah! There you are!" Newt's face lit up and he pulled a strange little chocolate that looked like a frog out from his pocket.

"Keerooo! Keerooo!" the Sugarfanger squealed in delight, then it lunged forward right into the young man's collar.

"There you go," he whispered to it as he gave the chocolate frog to it. "He's very fond of sweets he is!" he smiled.

But then he turned back to the girls to see something resembling sorrow on their faces. He suddenly felt awkward in their presence and he looked away, apologizing.

"I am sorry that I ruined your morning, but I really did need him back!" he said.

"We understand," June replied with a sigh and Cora nodded to show that neither she nor June bore this Newt fellow any ill will.

"I do thank you again for looking after him," Newt offered.

"It was our pleasure," June said with a small smile. Newt returned the smile then gave them a funny little bow before leaving their door. Cora and June both exchanged a look before heading out after him just hoping to get one last look at the strange foreigner but they were surprised to see that he had totally vanished. They looked left and right but both directions of the hallway were totally empty. Had he simply vanished into thin air? Cora and June exchanged another look, this time with more mystified expressions, then they returned inside, shutting the door firmly behind them.

30 minutes later, the couple stood in NYC. As interesting as their morning had been, they still had jobs to go to and couldn't wait around forever. On their way over, they received the news that apparently, one of the senators, Henry Shaw, had been murdered.

"These are dark times," Cora muttered darkly.

"He was a politician. What did you expect?" June shrugged indifferently. Cora shot her a glare but said nothing. Instead, the pair took a deep breath and got ready to head in for work.

June and Cora ended up being distracted from their daily lives once more sometime later in the afternoon. They were returning from their lunch break when they noticed a giant black cloud swirling over head.

"A dust storm?" Cora suggested.

"In a city?" June asked skeptically. Cora then conceded that the odds of this were pretty impossible, but what else could it be?  
But before either girl could hypothesize further, the screaming began. It may not have been a dust storm, but it was just as deadly! What followed was a mad dash through city streets as panicked citizens and flying debris attacked the girls from all sides. Cora yelped as something struck her and June let out a cry as she was nearly run over by a panicking woman. After a fierce battle against the crowd, June and Cora were able to escape the main throng alive. Quickly, they ducked into the subway and held each other tight as the sounds of NYC being torn apart raged above their heads. But then the chaos hit the subway. The ceiling began to crack open and suddenly, everybody was in a rush to get back out. June and Cora were lucky to be some of the first out, but they were horrified by what they saw back up on the surface. All of NYC was in smoking ruins and people were lying lifeless everywhere. A strange group of people was running through the streets with dark determination, but June and Cora had no idea what to make of it all. The storm was raging violently and the pair had to cling to each other and anything else they could find just so they wouldn't be sucked away into it.

At last, however, it all stopped. All at once, the black cloud just exploded and everything stopped into a perfect silence and stillness. No more wind or screaming or flying objects or panic. Just dead silence.

"Is it over?" Cora whispered, trembling. June, no longer being blown about by chaotic wind, moved to take Cora in her arms.

"I think. I hope," she replied, also trembling. "What even was it?"

"No idea," the brunette responded. "I've never seen anything like it! It certainly wasn't a mere dust storm, though…"

From the faces of the other NYC people, Cora could see that their sentiments were the same. Everyone who was still alive was shaking with fear and confusion, praying that the storm was gone for good. Whatever it was, it had decimated the entire city and they hoped to Heaven that no more lives or properties would be taken in a second storm.

As Cora and June looked all around at the devastation, they both began to realize that they hadn't escaped unscathed either. It was just the adrenaline that had protected them but, with no more danger, the adrenaline was wearing off and they both began to feel their injuries. June had a black eye and a scar along her cheek. Cora's nose was bleeding and she had several gnashes of various severity on her limbs and one long, but shallow, cut on her forehead. Both of the girls had lost some clothes and the things that did remain were torn and bloody. Bruises and cuts lined their sides and torsos. They looked like they had just survived a war and they felt much the same. In the distance, from the smoldering subway, a small group of people emerged, one being the man who had visited June and Cora's earlier. Newt was his name? How odd it was to see him here.

The pair did begin to wonder who this man really was and if he knew anything about the strange storm but then suddenly, it began to rain. For a moment, the two girls and the rest of the citizens began to panic, fearing another apocalyptic tempest, but as the rain drizzled down, everyone began to feel…hazy. It wasn't the kind of hazy one felt while being drunk. It was more like a gentle breeze blowing through their minds and clearing out all the clutter. It was actually pretty refreshing and the calm tempo of the little rain droplets was so antithetical to the chaos the black storm cloud from earlier had brought. June and Cora, still clinging to one another, stared up into the pearly white sky as the raindrops fell from the Heavens. They thought they saw a faint outline of a gryphon creature in the silvery clouds, but the longer it rained, the more muddled everything became, including their memories.

At last, the rain stopped and June and Cora had no memory of anything before receiving notice that their loan had failed.

"Then why are we all the way out by the subway?" Cora asked June.

"No idea," June said. "Maybe we were walking this way to do something?"

"But what?" Cora asked, though neither she nor June could think of anything. They had to admit, this sudden lapse of memory was odd, but they didn't question it, choosing instead just to head back towards the bank.

"Let's go get something to eat," the brunette suggested. "I heard there's a nice little pastry shop nearby."

"Ok. Let's go!" June agreed, then she and Cora decided to race each other to the bakery.

Scarcely a week later, June and Cora received notice that the loan they applied for had actually come through after all and they went from having less cash than expected to more. The girls were amazed.

"Where did all of this come from?" they asked the bankers, but the bankers were just as confounded.

"We have no idea," they said. "But all of the paperwork is correct. This is all yours!" Blue met green and the two girls could barely hold in their excitement as they left the bank.

"We should celebrate with a pastry!" June decided once they had returned to the sunny, crowded streets of NYC.

"Yeah, I heard a new one opened up not too far away. Let's check it out!" Cora agreed.

"Alright then. Lead on!" June said, pretending to bow to Cora. Cora laughed in reply and the two made their way down the street. This new pastry shop was a lot smaller than the one June and Cora usually frequented but that was because, as of now, it was a one-man business. The man in charge was named Jacob Kowalski. He was incredibly friendly and his pastries were both delicious and gorgeous.

"Where did you get the idea for this?" June asked him as he gave her a pastry shaped like a dragon.

"It just kind of came to me," he said, sounding as confused as June. He turned and gave Cora a bagel in the shape of a gryphon.

"Cool!" the brunette said as she paid the man in return.

Then, as the girls took a seat at one of the little tables, they noticed a new type of red jelly-filled, over-roasted pastry covered in brown and white sugar. What intrigued them, however, was not the pastry, but rather, what it looked like. It was a dog-cat creature with a ferret body.

"What a fantastic beast!" June exclaimed, pointing at the exotic and beautiful pastry.

"Right?" Cora mused with equal wonder and both of the girls had the strangest feeling that they had seen that creature before… But when nothing came to them, they returned to the present and spent the pleasant hour chatting about what they would do next as they ate their food.

 **AN: The only reason I did this Fantastic Beasts TDC crossover was because they were both set in 1920s NYC and, hypothetically, it could've worked out in the timeline of TDC if we assume June and Cora died** _ **after**_ **1926\. I hope it didn't seem too muddled or rushed and I hope it did stay at least a wee bit faithful to the actual film. Also, don't judge my pathetic fantastic beast. I based it off of myself because I have a GIANT sweet tooth. I even joke around and call it a sugar FANG, hence the creature's name of Sugarfanger.**


End file.
